Becoming Human
Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness;” Genesis 1:26a NASB
Mankind – A famously misunderstood verse! ʾādām in this English translation is rendered “mankind,” assuring that the reader will understand it as “everyone of the species.” Adapted from the paradigm of Greek philosophy, this verse appears to claim that all homo sapiens are created human. From a Western perspective, we imagine that this verse is about biological existence, not spiritual development. We read the early chapters of Genesis as if they were something like naïve ancient science rather than tribal identification stories. It’s a mistake with significant implications. Instead of teaching that actions and attitudes produce human beings, we struggle to understand why “human beings” act in ways that are morally despicable. We have converted relationship requirements into ethical paradoxes. Let me put it another way. If becoming human is a process accomplished through choices in cooperation with divine aid, then we are not born human. We become human when we act as the Creator acts. We earn humanity over the course of our lives.
This helps me comprehend the great statement from Hillel—and the supporting remarks of Heschel.
Hillel:
יד הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי מִי לִי וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי מָה אֲנִי וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו אֵימָתַי
“If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?”[1]
Heschel:
“A man entirely unconcerned with his self is dead; a man exclusively concerned with his self is a beast.”[2]
“A vital requirement of human life is transitive concern, a regard for others, in addition to a reflexive concern, an intense regard for itself.”[3]
“The motivation of our transitive concern may be selfish. The fact of our transitive concern is not.”[4]
“Human is he who is concerned with other selves.”[5]
“Always in need of other beings to give himself to, man cannot even be in accord with his own self unless he serves something beyond himself.”[6]
“Man reaches a new vertical dimension, the dimension of the holy, when he grows beyond his self-interests, when that which is of interest to others becomes vital to him.”[7]
“The self, the fellow-man and the dimension of the holy are the three dimensions of a mature human concern. True love of man is clandestine love of God.”[8]
“Our first impulse is self-preservation. It is the essence of organic living, and only he who has contempt for life would condemn it as a vice. If life is holy, as we believe it is, then self-regard is that which maintains the holy. Regard for the self becomes only a vice by association: when associated with complete or partial disregard for other selves. Thus the normal task is not how to disregard one’s own self but how to discover and be attentive to another self. The self is not evil. The precept: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,’ includes care for one’s own self as a duty. It is as mistaken to consider the duty to oneself and the will of God as opposites as it is to identify them. To serve does not mean to surrender but to share.”[9]
The question is not “Were you born a human being?” The question is “Are you becoming human?”
Topical Index: human being, ʾādām, mankind, Hillel, Genesis 1:26
[1] Hillel, Pirke Avot, Chapter 1, Mishna 14
[2] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 109.
[3] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 109.
[4] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 110.
[5] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 109.
[6] Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone, p. 138.
[7] Ibid., p. 139.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid., p. 141.
